Jenny Craig's Dreams Ride on Chocolate Candy

by Meredith Rodkey (RSS feed)
May 1st 2009 at 6:00AM

Jenny Craig might taste victory at the Kentucky Derby this weekend -- but if she does, it's likely to be bittersweet.

That's because -- while the average person associates Jenny Craig with a weight-loss program -- horse racing fans know Jenny and her late husband, Sid, as long-time sports enthusiasts. They first got involved with racing by buying up successful horses from Argentina, and eventually began home-breeding their biggest winners in California. Like most owners and trainers, their dream was to win the Kentucky Derby.

The couple made their biggest splash in 1992, when Jenny gave Sid a $2.5 million present for his 60th birthday, a Kentucky Derby hopeful named Dr. Devious. (He ultimately finished 7th, but went on to win $1.4 million for them.) The forgotten part of that story -- until recently -- is that Jenny bought Sid a filly named Crownette as a part of that same gift, for a paltry $190,000. She wasn't nearly as successful as Dr. Devious at the track, earning only $184,488 in 19 total starts before the Craigs sent her to be a broodmare.

Fast forward 17 years, though, and Crownette is suddenly the best gift Jenny could've given Sid -- because the Craigs bred her to their biggest champion, Candy Ride (who went undefeated in all six of his careers starts, earning $749,149). That pairing gave them a chestnut colt they named Chocolate Candy. (Maybe CNBC will relax their cries to rename Chocolate Candy something more diet-friendly now that they understand the origins?)

When Chocolate Candy loads into gate 11 to run in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, he'll be the third horse to do it wearing the white and blue silks of the Craig Family Trust, but he'll be the first Craig homebred to wear them.

He'll also be the first hopeful Sid won't be there to see.

He lost a long battle with cancer at age 76 in July 2008, with Jenny by his bedside and his Derby dreams unfulfilled.

As Jenny told the Thoroughbred Times recently, "Near the end of Sid's illness last July, I asked him if there was anything he wished that he had achieved, and he said, 'Yes. Winning the Kentucky Derby.' It really was the ultimate dream for him. We thought as one -- and I shared all his dreams."

No one can say for certain what Jenny Craig will feel as she watches Chocolate Candy run, but we can imagine how much she'll feel her husband's absence -- it's clear she and Sid were an unstoppable team. And they certainly doted on each other; in her 2004 autobiography -- after 25 years of marriage -- she compared him to Jack Kennedy and Clark Gable, and wrote:

"I've learned that everyone has a soul mate somewhere, and if we're lucky enough to find them to share our life with, then we are more fortunate than most. I thank God every day for allowing me to find mine. Sid has enriched my life in more ways than I can count."

So the No. 1 question on her mind right now must be: Can Chocolate Candy make Sid's ultimate dream come true?

He's won two races so far this year and finished second in his most recent outing, but he'll face stiff competition -- the Derby field is deep this year. Still, you wouldn't be crazy if you put a bet on him; he's likely to go off at 10-1 odds on race day (and if it rains in Louisville like it's supposed to on Saturday, watch out -- a source at the stable claims he loves the mud). The biggest knock against him is that he's never raced on dirt, but only on the Polytrack synthetic surfaces in California.

Luck has been on Chocolate Candy's side so far this Derby season -- but he'll have to be very, very good and very, very lucky to win. And Jenny just might have an extra trick up her sleeve: "I know Sid will be riding that horse along with the jockey." Win, place or show, it's going to be an emotional ride.

Tags: chocolate candy, ChocolateCandy, horses, jenny craig, JennyCraig, kentucky derby, KentuckyDerby, sid craig, SidCraig, thoroughbreds

Filed under: Sports, Wealth

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

MELLE May 1st 2009 3:30PM

I GOT MY FINGERS CROSSED !!!
GO CHOCOLATE CANDY !!!

KathyD May 1st 2009 3:58PM

Good Luck Chocolate Candy

jojo May 1st 2009 4:08PM

What a useless peice of news. Who the heck cared enough to write that? And who cares about this woman and her horse? This is a waste of communicating technology.

jc May 1st 2009 4:16PM

you must care,,,,,you obviously read it!!

Spectacular Bid May 1st 2009 4:15PM

And really, jojo, your comments add what value? Lead by example.

Show Me May 1st 2009 8:53PM

News is all kinds of events and all kinds of people, places and things. Evidently you are woefully uneducated. It would be a poor news day if ALL we heard or read about was all the crooked politicians, and all the murders, and fools like you. It would be disheartening, and put people in a funk where they wanted to do nothing but evil, as that's all they would hear about. Do you not read the sports pages. I don't but others do. If you don't like articles like this, why in the heck are you reading it and wasting your time to comment on them? Talk about an oxy MORON. Your remarks are what is a total useless waste of space and time it takes to read them. But have a good life, when you go out and get one.

jj May 1st 2009 4:33PM

JoJo don't be such a Bitch. It's human intrest story. You read it so whats the beef. Go back to your beer.

nc May 1st 2009 4:47PM

You are such a sad person I feel sorry for you not the Craig's. Go Chocolate Candy my bet is on you:)

NOTSURPRISED May 1st 2009 4:53PM

Look you all if JOJO wants to be a "horses _ _ s,
who are we to judge?

I think this was a well written story and also hope that Chocolate Candy wins because I certainly love that flavor.

mkautzman1 May 1st 2009 4:55PM

Very well written.

Sandi May 1st 2009 6:05PM

No offense, but I've got money on another horse in the same race, so I'm not rooting for Chocolate Candy. And it has nothing to do with the fact that I used to work for Jenny either. I just perfer another horse.

Willy May 1st 2009 6:11PM

This is one of the smartest posts I've read on Luxist.

Robert May 1st 2009 6:51PM

The Kentucky Derby is the most dangerous race for thoroughbreds as well as the most unfair. The BEST horse usually does not win because there are FAR too many horses in the race. Unless a horse is a wire-to wire horse, it more than likely that he will get boxed into the crowded field. If this were in the interest of SPORT rather than $$$, there would be a limit of 12 entries in the Derby...And, the BEST Horse would probably win MOST Derbies. Anyhow, I sure hope no horse dies on the track like last year...that REALLY bummed out the Derby for TRUE horse fans.